My wife and I are going to Paris in mid March for the first time. Is the Marriott Renaissance a good way to experience the city? Will we feel like we are in Atlanta? Do any Paris hotels offer suites? (To make Bfast etc.) Thanks.

Sam, <BR> <BR>If you are referring to the Marriott Renaissance located at LaDefense, I would suggest you choose a location in central Paris if possible. LaDefense is a suburb of Paris that is mostly office buildings. Most tourists stay there only because they want to use their Marriott points for free nights.

There are hundreds of small hotels in the central part of Paris which are much more "Paris-like" than the Marriott. If you're staying there to use up your Marriott points, that would make sense, but if you're planning to pay for a hotel, look further - no chain hotel in Paris is as much fun as one of the small, locally owned hotels in the central city.

If you have no other choice take the Marriott, but if you do there are hundreds of places to stay that reflect more the charm of the city. Just do a search on Paris hotels. As for suite hotels, I assume you mean like Embassy Suites, etc. Well ... they are few and far between in Paris, you'd probably need to rent an apartment if you were looking for a place with a kitchenette. Most hotels are just the room - and in many cases it is a small room, even in some of the more expensive hotels the rooms tend to be smaller than in the U.S. so go prepared for that. Smaller hotels have breakfast rooms (or you can have continental breakfast delivered to your room) where either a continental or buffet breakfast is served, usually there is a charge for this ... the good old days of breakfast included is fast fading away in many places in Paris we noticed. We've stayed in many 3 star places in Paris and never had a coffee pot in the room - I don't know if anyone else has found one. Unless you are willing to pay top dollar most hotels do not have really large rooms as I mentioned above - usually storage space is at a premium also. You will also encounter rather small (2-3 person) elevators as well. Just go with the flow is my feeling,but unless you are using frequent flyer points I'd look for someplace other than a Marriott in Paris, there are so many great locations and if this is the Marriott in La Defense you can do better location wise. While Paris is a small city and the Metro makes it easy to get about, it's nicer to be more central.

Sam <BR>If you're going to be there a week or so it might pay for you to rent an apartment. See the other posting today about Paris apartments. <BR>With all the hotels to choose from in Paris, please don't stay in La Defense, if that's where the Marriott is. <BR>For many other hotel choices, search this forum. Or go to www.hotelboulevard.com or <BR>www.paris.org and check out their hotel listings, and run them by people here if you have questions. I realize time is short.

Hotel-Residence Henry IV is a very nice small apartment-hotel with one-bedroom suites with kitchenettes. You can find information about it on www.hotelboulevard.com or www.france-hotel-guide.com. It's in the latin quarter on the left bank on a lovely quiet street with a little square.